CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) RESOURCE CENTER Read More
Add To Favorites

EDITORIAL: STDs not so b-i-g

Augusta Chronicle - 1/27/2020

Jan. 27--You might still be shocked over the recent announcement that Augusta ranks sixth nationwide among U.S. cities with the highest rates of sexually transmitted diseases.

Your level of panic can now be dialed down to a level of serious concern. As with just about every other numbered superlative ranking -- in a country that loves numbered superlative rankings -- the stories behind the numbers soften the blow of the ranking's impact.

While the statistical compilation for STDs from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention can be considered accurate, there's a reason why little Augusta stuck out oddly in a top-10 that included urban behemoths such as Baltimore, Philadelphia and San Francisco.

It's the same reason other smaller cities stuck out in the top 10. Why would Killeen, Texas, Montgomery, Ala., and Shreveport, La., rank so high alongside Augusta? It's not because our populations are necessarily friskier than the national average.

They're all military towns.

Just like Augusta includes Fort Gordon, Montgomery has Maxwell Air Force Base. Killeen has Fort Hood. Shreveport has Barksdale Air Force Base. Dip further into the top 20 and you'll find Fayetteville, N.C. (Fort Bragg), Columbus (Fort Benning) and Columbia, S.C. (Fort Jackson).

Servicemembers have easy and affordable access to medical care, meaning they're likely to be tested more often to look for STDs. And, like lint on your clothes, the more you look for it, the more you'll find it.

So Augusta isn't quite the Petri dish of horror the CDC ranking suggests. But it's still a ranking to worry about. If authorities want that number to shrink, they should better educate the public on STDs and how to avoid them.

___

(c)2020 The Augusta Chronicle (Augusta, Ga.)

Visit The Augusta Chronicle (Augusta, Ga.) at chronicle.augusta.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.